Crop damage: Badal seeks higher relief from Shinde

Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Tuesday urged union home minister Sushil kumar Shinde to modify relief norms for enhancement of compensation from the state disaster response fund in case of 100% loss to crops during the recent floods. He demanded at least Rs 20,000 per acre as compensation to farmers in case of complete loss of crops.

Badal called on Shinde in New Delhi on Tuesday evening and made a similar request in case of damage to houses as well as loss of milch animals.

He told Shinde that presently, the maximum amount of relief in case of complete damage to a house was Rs 70,000, while seeking an increase in this limit to Rs 1.25 lakh, with corresponding enhancement in case of partial damage etc. The CM informed Shinde that the current guidelines stipulated that relief would be admissible only for the loss of one large milch animal, even through many such animals might have been lost.

Badal also flagged the issue of compensation to farmers whose land falls across the fence along the international border

Referring to the construction of new jails at Amritsar, Bathinda and Muktsar, the CM requested Shinde to immediately sanction Rs 300 crore for the purpose.Meanwhile, the CM handed over a cheque for Rs.5.07 crore to Shinde towards the Prime Minister's relief fund for Uttarakhand victims.